Local Goa News

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Goans weather the weather to observe World Yoga Day

PANAJI: Braving heavy showers, hundreds joined chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar to celebrate the second International Yoga Day on Tuesday morning.
Addressing enthusaistic participants at the Dr Shyamaprasad Mukherjee stadium during the inaugural of the event, Parsekar said yoga is a medium to connect not just the people of Goa but those across the country.
"Besides giving people balance in the physiological sense, the science of yoga also helps keep mental balance," the chief minister said. "I hope this event inspires citizens to practice yoga on a daily basis."
Also present for the mass yoga session was deputy chief minister Francis D'Souza, who lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for initiating the concept of International Yoga Day.
"We are celebrating a very ancient science brought to us by our sages. Yoga teaches us to unite the mind, body and soul. This helps our body prevent a number of illnesses," he said.
The day-long event saw a massive turnout of enthusiastic students, teachers and heads of various departments. Six batches of 500 students each participated.
Anu Modak, a teacher at Dr K B Hedgewar School, Cujira, Bambolim, said, "This event has helped bring awareness about the importance of yoga among citizens, specially students. Yoga should be made a part of the school curriculum in Goa."
Participants were urged to understand changes they felt after performing breathing exercises and asanas . "It was exhilarating to perform breathing exercises in tandem with others," said a retired official from the nuclear power corporation, Bimal Dey.